No power, energy tariff hike now, says Nasrul

The government doesn’t want to raise the tariffs of power and energy at this moment, said State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Monday.

“We’re trying to keep the situation stable through providing subsidies. But if any big change comes from the international perspective, then a decision may come from the government to raise the prices,” he said.

Nasrul was addressing a Meet the Press event on Payra Power Plant’s inauguration scheduled for March 21.

He said the government has to count huge loss in the energy and power sector due to the price hike in global market for the Russia-Ukraine war.

He mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the country’s first 1320 ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant at Payra on March 21.

The developer of the plant—North West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL) and Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB) jointly organized the function at the Biduyt Bhaban.

Nasrul said Bangladesh will reach a milestone through the inauguration of Payra power plant as it has been the first ultra-super critical power which is environment-friendly.

He noted that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will also announce the cent per cent coverage of electrification across the country through the programme.

He said currently the country's 99.85 percent areas and families are getting electricity as the country has been generating 13000 MW power.

Power Secretary Habibur Rahman, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) chairman Delwar Hossain, NWPGCL managing director Khurshed Alam, FERB chairman Shamim Jahangir and executive director Rishan Nasrullah were present on the occasion.

The state minister said the demand for electricity is rising by 200 MW per day.

Regarding the surplus electricity generation he said if there is no surplus generation, the country will have to experience load shedding in the coming summer.

He said the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has to incur a loss of Tk 80 crore per day due to the hike in the price of petroleum in global market.

“The monthly loss will be Tk 2500 crore if the situation continues. It is a big question, how far we could afford this huge loss,” he said.

Nasrul Hamid noted that there is no problem until now for project implementation in the country where the Russian firms are involved due to the sanctions on Russia.

Responding to a question, he said that though the Payra power plant will be inaugurated, it will need to wait until December this year to reach the electricity to Dhaka due to delay in implementation of the transmission line projects.